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By German Villasenor

December 31, 2011- Original “Super Six” competitor and former Undisputed Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor came back from a two-year retirement to shake some rust in stopping game but highly overmatched Jessie Nicklow in the eighth frame of a scheduled ten-round tilt on Friday night. Gary Shaw Productions and DiBella Entertainment co-promoted the “ShoBox” main event at Morongo Resort and Casino in Cabazon, California.

Taylor, 29-4-1 (18), worked from the start by going over the top with hooks to the head. Taylor then brought out his once formidable double jab, getting his rhythm and timing back by the halfway mark of the fight.

Nicklow, 22-3-3 (8), would land one wide head shot at a time but remained in a constant defensive form throughout the fight.

Taylor would get pounded as well entering the sixth round, losing a point for blatantly hitting his bloody-nosed opponent after the bell ending the stanza.

Although the potential danger from Nicklow came from leading with his head, it would be a clean shot to the jaw which caught Taylor’s attention as the fight went into the eighth frame.

The end came quickly, however, as referee Ray Corona had seen enough, choosing to stop the fight rather abruptly following a couple of partially blocked head shots, angering and the crowd on hand. The time of the stoppage was 36 seconds into the eighth.

In the second fight of the televised tripleheader, another original “Super Six” contestant, Andre Dirrell, returned to action by halting Darryl Cunningham in the second round of a scheduled 10-round super middleweight fight.

“The Matrix,” 20-1 (14), took the first round as a study-only round, going on to hurt his foe in the second with two quick lefts, sending him to the canvas.

Confusion ensued afterward as Cunningham barely got up before someone from his corner threw a towel. Referee Jack Reiss directed Dirrell from the neutral corner to his own corner as a TV cameraman partially came into the ring, causing all kinds of chaos.

After getting a handle of things, Reiss resumed the action and Dirrell thumped a still hurt Cunningham with a right and a left to the dome, again dropping him to the canvas

CANDIDATES SET AS "VICIOUS" VICTOR ORTIZ AND ANDRE BERTO PREPARE TO FACE OFF ON FEBRUARY 11 AT THE MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA IN LAS VEGAS

SHOWTIME® & CBS Join Forces with Golden Boy Promotions & DiBella Entertainment to Promote Event

SHOWTIME to Televise Live on Saturday, Feb. 11, 10 p.m. ET/PT

(Delayed on West Coast)

LOS ANGELES (December 19, 2011) - In April 2011, Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto gave boxing fans one of the best fights of the year, with both men hitting the canvas twice before Ortiz rallied to victory and captured Berto's WBC Welterweight World Championship. On Saturday, February 11, these rugged and determined fighters will meet once again, this time at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., in a highly anticipated 12-round welterweight rematch live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

"Ortiz vs. Berto II: Repeat or Revenge" is presented by Golden Boy Promotions, DiBella Entertainment and SHOWTIME. Coming off of its groundbreaking promotion during the blockbuster SHOWTIME PPV® event featuring Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley in May 2011, SHOWTIME will again receive promotional support from the network's parent company, CBS Corporation, whose assets include the CBS Television Network and local radio and television stations, among others. The Ortiz-Berto rematch marks the first time that SHOWTIME and CBS will join forces in support of a boxing event televised live on the premium network.

Both fighters have agreed to be subject to Olympic style drug testing which will be administered by the Volunteer Anti-Doping Association (VADA) and will include random blood and urine tests.

"For me, the first Berto-Ortiz fight was the 2011 Fight of the Year and one of the most memorable fights of the last several years," said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. "Immediately after, like most every other boxing fan, I couldn't help but hope for a rematch. Now that I am in the position to bring this fight to the loyal SHOWTIME subscribers, and to do so with the support of our world-class colleagues at CBS, I couldn't be more proud to make this special announcement."

"I'm prepared to go to war again with Berto," said Ortiz.

Berto said, "I am looking forward to this fight. It's a fight that I want and it's a fight the people demanded. These are the types of fights that make boxing so great. I am so hyped and excited to get ready to make another classic, but bottom line...Ortiz has to GO!"

Oscar de la Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, said, "After the April fight between Ortiz and Berto, the first words out of everyone's mouths were, 'When are they going to do it again?' Well, I'm proud to say that February 11th is the date for the most anticipated rematch we've seen in a long time. When you put these two fighters together in the ring, there will always be fireworks. I can't wait to see them do battle a second time."

Lou DiBella, president of DiBella Entertainment, said, "Berto-Ortiz I was a 'Fight of the Year' candidate and boxing fans can expect more of the same in this meaningful rematch. This fight is the perfect way to open up what is expected to be a great year of boxing in 2012."

Tickets, priced at $300, $150, $100 and $50, are now on sale and are available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith's Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Everyone anticipated an action-packed fight the first time that Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto stepped into the ring back on April 16 with the WBC Welterweight World Championship on the line. What ensued was nothing less than spectacular as the pair stormed out of the gate, setting a fast pace that would continue for the entire 12-round contest. Midway through the first round, Ortiz staggered Berto with a sneaky right hand, then backed him into a corner and followed up with a barrage of punches which forced the defending champion to take a knee in order to recover. Berto wasted little time returning the favor, sending Ortiz to the canvas with a counter right hand at the end of the second round. The exciting battle continued round after round, and in the sixth frame, Berto landed a right hand that dropped Ortiz. As soon as the action resumed, Berto was all over Ortiz, looking to close the show. With Ortiz trapped against the ropes and Berto throwing caution to the wind, Ortiz threw a left hook that caught Berto flush on the chin, dropping him for the second time in the fight just seconds before the bell. The back-and-forth action continued for the second half of the "Fight of the Year" candidate. In the end, Ortiz had captured the title with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory, winning by scores of 115-110, 114-111 and 114-112.

The star of Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KOs) has been on the rise for the last few years, but in 2011, the native of Garden City, Kansas finally put everything together for the entire world to see. The owner of wins over Mike Arnaoutis, Nate Campbell and Antonio Diaz, Ortiz stepped it up in April 2011 with a 12-round decision win over Berto that captivated the boxing world and earned him the WBC Welterweight Championship. Five months later, Ortiz lost a controversial bout to pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, but with his rematch against Berto looming, the 24-year old now has the perfect opportunity to get back to the top of the division.

A member of the 2004 Haitian Olympic team, Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KOs), like Ortiz, has been leading the charge of boxing's next generation, thrilling fans with exciting fights and blistering knockouts. Crowned a world champion in 2008, the 28-year-old Berto successfully defended his WBC crown five times against the likes of Luis Collazo, Steve Forbes and Juan Urango before losing it to Ortiz in April. In September, Berto put gold around his waist once again by stopping Jan Zaveck in five rounds for the IBF title. He would soon vacate the title in order to take the fight he has been clamoring for since April and now he's looking forward to evening the score with Ortiz on February 11.

AMIR KHAN & RICHARD SCHAEFER CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT

Monica Sears

Thank you, Christa. I'd like to thank everyone for taking time out of their morning, or afternoon, to join us for today's call which has the CEO of Golden Boys Promotion, Richard Schaefer on the line, as well as Amir Khan, and Amir's business manager Asif Vali.

At this time I'd like to send the call to Richard who will introduce everyone and give some opening statements about the fight that occurred on December 10th. Richard?

Richard Schaefer

Thank you very much, Monica, and thank you all for being on this call. I know it's a holiday week for many and I really appreciate that you guys are taking time out of your schedule. I'd like make some opening marks, remarks, walk you quickly through where we stand and what the next steps are, um, as it relates to Amir and the fight and everything, and then turn it over for Amir for some comments and then opening it up for questions.

Well, first of all let me state that the purpose of this call is in no way or shape to attack or question the performance of Lamont Peterson and his team. I think Lamont fought a very good fight, it was an exciting fight. In fact, many people feel it was another fight of the year candidate, so this is absolutely nothing about taking anything away from Lamont Peterson. It is simply to look at the facts, present the facts, and give the people involved an opportunity to correct their mistakes. It's basically about doing the right thing.

So let's look at these facts. Let's look where we stand. There was clearly controversy after the fight on this scoring. I've ha, have hardly ever seen uh, the, the time it took for tabulating this card and announcing the decision. That was very strange in itself.

Then you look at the official card, which showed initially a 10/10 on the scorecard of George Hill for round seven. It was later crossed out and changed to an 8/10 in favor of Peterson. Then you look at the WBC's WBA supervisor, Michael Walsh, who is a certified public accountant and CPA by profession, and probably the man with the most experience that night sitting ringside there.

Certainly from an accounting point of view, but as well from a fight official point of view, he was involved in many other championship fights before. And he kept, as it is customary, a WBA master score sheet which used as an input the same information as the District of Columbia Boxing Commission used for their scorecard. It's basically the individual per rounds score slips, which are collected from the referee and then supposed to be given to the Commission.

So the Commission keeps the master score sheet, so does the WBA, and so does the IBF. Therefore the results would be the same, right, because they all use the same information. Well shockingly it was not, it was different. It was the same for the scorecard of Nelson Vasquez, who had it for Khan, and it was the same for Valerie Dorsett, who had it for Peterson, but somehow George Hill's card had it a draw. Therefore the WBA showed on their card that the fight was a draw.

Dave Itskowitch, our Chief Operating Officer and certainly one of the most honest and straight-forward people I have ever met, and all of those, those of you who know him, certainly would agree with me. He actually saw the card, the official WBA card with his own eyes right after the fight. And the WBA's not disputing that the WBA card is different from the official, ah, from the official card.

Now what happened with the IBF card, with the IBF master score card? It was gone after the fight. Funny enough, it disappeared. When I talked to Lindsey Tucker on Monday morning, Lindsey Tucker is the IBF official, I asked him what happened, he said that the IBF supervisor who was there for the fight told him that it disappeared, that it seems to him that the District of Columbia took it while he was in the ring presenting Peterson with the belt.

Then suddenly two days ago, an IBF scorecard appeared. It looks as it was made up after the fact, no question about it or was made about, yeah, two days. The printing was way too neat and consistent, not consistent with what usually a scorecard looks like. So, we're not, we're just, as I said before, we're just outlining the facts here. Ah, there clearly is some smoke as it relates to the scorecards and you know the old saying, where there is smoke there is fire.

Now let's move on to the points deductions. There are serious issues with these point deductions. First of all there were clearly no fouls. Even Lamont Peterson acknowledged in the post-fight interview that the push, that the push-off from Amir did not bother him at all.

There are no provisions in the rules related to pushing. In fact the uniform rules of the Association of Boxing Commission do not mention pushing or even excessive pushing as a foul. Even fellow referees, some of the veterans in the sport and they never; believe me, they never second guess a colleagues performance, had issue with referee Cooper's point deductions and the way he handled that fight.

Several news stories to that effect were published in the last few days and you can read about outspoken comments from fellow referees. There was clearly no basis for one point and certainly, absolutely none for two-point deductions. The fact is that the ref performed one of the worst cases of home cooking I have ever seen. The fact is that Amir complained during the fight about the excessive and continued use of the head by Peterson and coming in low, head first. The ref realized that and warned Peterson.

Let me just briefly walk you through the fight at the relevant warnings from the ref to Peterson, and again, I'm not making this stuff up. You guys can go and watch the tape yourself if you don't believe me. Rounds two, referee warned three times, keep your head up, keep your head up. Round four, one warning; get your head up. Round five; keep your head up, son. Round six, five of the rounds the ref warned Barry Hunter; anymore of that and I will take a point away. He went on to warn him two more times in that round six.

At 2:04 seconds remaining, Amir looked at the ref and complained about Peterson's head. Round eight, again keep your head up Peterson, one warning. Round 10, 2:20, 2:44 seconds remaining, Amir looks up and again complains about the low blow. Three more warnings; get your head off him. Let go, keep your head off him, keep your head up. Round 11, two more warnings, another complaint from Amir at the close of the round. Twelfth round; ah, again one warning; break, keep your head up. And again Amir complained about the Peterson head.

So the inconsistency, the inconsistency is absolutely shocking. The ref didn't deduct any points, but if this is not home cooking I don't know what is. It's clear, and I mean very clear, that after the first round that Amir was fighting not one, but two people in the ring. Now again, you can't blame Peterson for that, and we're not blaming Peterson, has nothing to do with Peterson.

The fact is the ref didn't do his job, worse, he did a shitty job. Now people make mistakes, and I believe in giving them an opportunity to correct the situation. These points are razor fact, we don't make them up. They're clear and unquestionable facts. This decision has to be corrected. I hope that they were just honest mistakes and the truth will prevail and the result be corrected. Anything but, would be another black eye, for the sports, the sanction organization and the District of Columbia.

Now for those people who have suggested; why did you go to the guy's hometown, why did they go to Washington? We would never take a fight there. You know you have these Sunday morning quarterbacks voicing and making these kinds of comments.

Well, let me start by stating that if in fact somebody cannot get a fair decision in our nation's capital, then we have a much bigger problem, a problem which is not fixed by simply ignoring it or not going back there for another 20 years or so. The problem and the issue has to be addressed. It has to be addressed by the District of Columbia Boxing Commission, as well as by the IBF and the WBA.

I refuse to believe that fighters cannot get a fair shake in Washington, D.C. It's not fair to the great fans of Washington, which came out in huge numbers and to the sport. This is exactly why we have filed the appeal with the Commission and with the two sanctioning organizations. They have an opportunity and an obligation to do the right thing.

I sure hope that for the sake of the fans and the sport that they will do the right thing, which is to overturn the decision and, or order, at least, at worst, order an immediate rematch. By the way, I got an update; we have filed these appeals and we got an update for the IBF and the WBA will order an appeal to happen in the beginning of January, I think it's January 18th and 19th, uh, in New York.

Now talking about doing the right thing. Lamont Peterson and his team have an opportunity as well, to do the right thing. They agreed after the fight that they would do a rematch. They told the HBO announcers and fight fans around the world that they have no problem doing the rematch next.

I personally talked to Team Peterson right after the fight and Barry Hunter told me the same. No issues, no problem to do the rematch, that it was a pleasure to work with us and that they have no problem giving Amir the rematch. I understand that, Lamont mentioned that to Amir as well, even when they were sitting next, next, next to each other at the hospital getting checked up after the fight.

I went immediately to work and was able to secure May 19th from Staple Center in Los Angeles. Not in Washington, not in the United Kingdom, on mutual grounds; a date, a date which will give both fighters enough time to get ready and to do it again. I talked to Team Peterson subsequently and made them a seven figure offer and we are waiting to hear back from them. Again, this will be a much anticipated fight, this is the fight, fight fans, the boxing world sports fans want to see, so let's get it done again.

Again, very, very important that, and very clear here, this is not about sour grapes, it's not attacking Lamont Peterson any way or shape, it comes back to like Lamont and his team, there's nothing, we don't want to take anything away from him, but have a setback, what we want is we want, we want fairness and we believe that that's the right thing to do to get the fight going again.

I'd like to hand it over now to Amir for any additional comments and thoughts, and then we're going to open it up to the media. Amir?

Amir Khan

Yes, thank you, Richard. You know I watched the fight and I've seen a few things in the fight I wasn't happy about. Well probably about five times I saw the fight and, there are a lot of warnings in there and stuff and the head and everything and I did tell the referee at times, well it seemed to me that there was no one there to help me.

I'm not taking anything away from Lamont Peterson. He fought a great performance and he was strong and he was, he put on, you have to do what you do. You know he stuck to his game plan and we spoke after the fight and him and his team were very respectful. But I think I deserve a fair chance of a fair fight somewhere neutral and I'm willing to come back to the U.S. and put a fight on there, but never in Washington again.

You know, I think it's just people that are going to be very disappointed, especially the fans in Washington because we brought the fight in the Capital, we brought boxing back there with that performance, and with the unfair judging and unfair referee. I think it just puts boxing on a low.

But, like I said, overall it was a great fight and I hope Lamont Peterson does give me the rematch like he did say he's going to give me, and the rematch I think I deserve and, you know, I know definitely if the fight, if the fight was judged and refereed fairly, I know I'll still be the world champion and, you know, I really think I was just judged unfairly.

I mean every time I watch the fight because the time in the fight where you know about the referee making mistakes and he's not on my side. But I mean you have to put these things behind you and I just hope that the Commission and also the IBF and the WBA will watch this and hopefully see my complaint and they come back and hopefully fix all this. So it's in the hands of the WBC.

I saw it over the air, and the IBF, and also the Commission, so let's see where we go from there. And I'll go out and by trying my very best to get this solved. Also my team have been trying very very hard to get this sorted out. But you know it's taking time and I'm just going to stay focused and, you know, overall it was a great fight. I mean one of the best fights of the year, and everywhere I've been going and everywhere I've been going in England, everyone's been saying I got robbed. Not even in England, but everywhere I went in the Washington people were saying I got robbed even his own fans.

They said look, there were people in Washington saying look, you come to D.C. and we robbed you. You know, that's what they're saying, but you know, end of the day all I want is a fair fight. I mean, you know, I want a rematch just to prove to the world I wasn't treated fairly and off we go from there.

I'm sure Lamont Peterson has watched the fight as well and he understands and now maybe that's the reason he's not coming back and he's not returning calls to Golden Boy Promotions about the rematch. But I think, you know, the IBF and the WBA should order a rematch in my opinion, and also look at the fight the way it was, the referee. So let's just see where we go from here and overall it was a great performance from Lamont Peterson also.

I mean I tried, I put on a good performance as well, we both were, you know, we both were happy with it, the way we fought and everything, but it was just the referee and the judges who spoiled a great night of boxing. So, you know, I don't know if there's going to be a fight in D.C. again. I hope there is, because I hope they do fix the judging and the referring, but let's just see where we go from there.

Q.

Now are you, are you seeking to have this overturned, or would you want a rematch Richard?

Richard Schaefer

Well, I mean we believe that there are enough grounds to get it overturned, that's our first priority. But as I said at the very least, really there should be no, there shouldn't even be a question about it; there shouldn't really be an argument about it. An immediate rematch should be ordered.

Q.

Richard, did you find, I know the procedure with the IBF is $10,000 and they go through an appeals process. What was the process, what do you understand is the process with the WBA you filed with them?

Richard Schaefer

Well it's similar, it's a little bit less money, but the fact is appeals are expensive and if we wouldn't be as convinced as we are that this is, there's really, it should be a slam dunk. We obviously wouldn't go through that, but, we are convinced it is, and yes, so with our appeals we did enclose the appropriate fees, which you were correct, a $10,000 in the case of the IBF and it's a little bit less in case of the WBA.

Q.

Okay, a little bit less, huh? And you said you expect both decisions, you've been notified that both decisions will be completed? Did they give you an exact date in January?

Richard Schaefer

Well they have suggested as a matter of fact this morning, the IBF did, January 19th as the date and so I will be talking to the WBA. I talked to them yesterday and they were actually suggesting to me to do the hearing in the beginning of January in New York, so I'm going to be communicating the dates that we can somehow do that during the same time when, um, when the various parties are going to be on the East Coast to take care of this.

Q.

And, if they do order the immediate rematch, will your offer still stand to, Lamont the seven figures, or will that--?

Richard Schaefer

Well you know I mean we are honorable people. The Khan's are very honorable people and so are we, so yes, we really hope that we don't even have to go through lawyers and we can just get this fight done; end of story. But it seems to me that we have to go that route, we're prepared to go that route. And, yes, we just, you know, we're treating people right and I hope, I hope that the Peterson's will do the same.

Q.

Have you gotten any cooperation or any feedback? Have you been able to contact anybody with the D.C. Commission?

Richard Schaefer

We have filed the appropriate paperwork, we have not heard back from them. Obviously this is as we saw that night, it is not a very experienced Commission, and we are, our attorneys are working on securing the date for the appeal with them as well that we can be heard in front of them.

Q.

Yeah, can you talk about your emotions after the fight? I know you were before the fight you really wanted to be at D.C., you had the whole experience with Senator Clinton and you were welcomed there. Obviously that night you were very emotional and you said some things. Can you talk about just the process of how you felt before the fight, how you felt the night of the fight, and I have to ask; Glen McCrory, one of the champions from England said that perhaps you shouldn't have been as harsh with your comments and that maybe since then, just about D.C. in general, you may have thought differently about some of the things you said.

Amir Khan

Well, you know first of all, you know, before the fight we were in good shape and we were very confident with the fight and, you know, I wasn't looking too far ahead. I mean I was just stick to it, you know, doing what I could do, I listened to Freddy and everything and we were ready for the fight. The fight happened. And we didn't get the decision and everything, we were unhappy with the refereeing and the way I was judged and all I wanted was a fair fight really.

And I thought being in the fight at D.C., it would bring more bigger fights in D.C. D.C. hasn't had a big fight there for such a long time I thought maybe this is a way, this could be the time near where we can bring the big super fights to D.C. now and the world of boxing will use D.C. as a great venue because the fans were great, I mean, I met all fans after the fight and they were so nice and they came over to me and showed me a lot of respect and they're all honest.

There's a lot of peace and fans that come over to me and said to me, "Look, we know you won the fight but you know it was one of them things you fought Peterson in his home town." And I'm here to get a message to all the boxers who are on the same level, I'm not going to mention no names, and they've also said to me, "We're never going to fight in D.C. If we ever get the option to fight in D.C. we'll never go there and fight there because if this is what, if that's what, if this is what happens in D.C., then we're not, we're not going to go there." I think it's bad for boxing what happened.

You know I'm not taking nothing away from Lamont Peterson, but I think it's just bad for boxing what happened the way I was judged and that's just going to put boxing, especially in D.C. really really low. You know, no one will want to fight there. I mean I wouldn't go back there again to fight there because if you're not going to get treated fairly then there's no point for fighting there. First of all, I'm fighting away from home anyway, I'm fighting in America, and even though I'm from England, I'm fighting for the fans even to go to fight away from home and then get robbed, that's what hurts more.

And people have a lot of respect for me to fight away from home at such a young age and defending my world title and everything. But when you fight someone in his home state you think at least be fair. You know I've shown up with the balls, I've shown the balls by going there and fighting him there, so why not be fair? Just get me, you know, Golden Boy, and my team have been great, they have just been, speaking to the IBF to find a way to fix this because you know I don't think it should happen in boxing. We want it to be fair, we want to be fair in sport.

We want, boxing, I mean it's one of the biggest sports in world, but we just want fair, we just want everyone to be fair and we're not getting that, I mean, especially the judging and the referee on that night, I think it was really really bad. You know, everyone who saw the fight in the U.K. were appalled. They were disgusted with the referee and the judging and the, now, you know, that's only going to pop people off boxing.

Q.

Wonderful. Richard, it seems like this is just the latest in a series of incidents that we've seen in the sport this year with questionable calls from referees and judges. I think back to Amir's fight with Zab Judah in Vegas where Judah complained. I think, of course to the Agbeko Mares fight in Vegas with Russell Mora, the Hopkins Dawson fight in L.A, the Ortiz Mayweather controversy and Pacquiao Marquez decision. And now we've got Amir's situation in D.C.

Is this just a bigger thing than just that one night? Do you think that sport, there's a sys, a systemic problem right now in boxing throughout in terms of refereeing and judging?

Richard Schaefer

Well, I really think that maybe the time has come to have the refereeing; the ref is an important part of the fight, and I think if the ref is injecting himself too much into a fight, and or doesn't have the proper training and experience, it obviously is an issue because there's so much at stake. So I do think that there is a lack of proper training for referees and frankly for judges as well. And I think that you're absolutely right.

I mean the whole year was a horrible year from an officiating point of view and I think something has to done about that. But at the very least, people have to be held accountable for their actions and I refuse to say that to believe even that this ref was corrupt, but what it is, is people make mistakes. As I said, you saw at the Hopkins Dawson fight, the ref acknowledged at the hearing that he didn't see it; he had a chance now to review the tape and he saw that he made the wrong call and he corrected it, you know.

That is what should happen, and this is not about, all were turning all the decisions or so, it is about doing the right thing, you know, that like it was the case in other sports, maybe instant replay should be introduced for some of the questionable calls. And there's definitely going to have to be something done to educate and further the officials and refs and so you're absolutely right, I think it is part of bigger picture. The IBF by the way, you mentioned Mares Agbeko, uh, where some of those calls were missed as well; the low blows--

Q.

They ordered a rematch.

Richard Schaefer

And they ordered a rematch and here it's clear again, I don't have to walk you through it, but it was 14 or 15 times that the ref actually warned Peterson for coming in low with his head, the ref even went into Peterson's corner, I mentioned it before, warned Barry Hunter, one more there's going to be a point deduction for Peterson, well it never happened. Peterson continued to do it and got away with it.

And, you know, in a way when you look at the Mares fight, there were no warnings and Mares got away with it and he kept on, you know, doing it because it didn't have any consequences. So Peterson kept going in low with the head, Amir had to push him off because the ref didn't do anything about it.

And again, so I really would be shocked, and I mean you can print shocked in capital letters if the IBF is not going to, is going to be so inconsistent, but ordering a rematch for Mares Agbeko just a couple of months ago and denying a rematch of this fight. I mean I would be shocked and I would seriously, and I mean you can put seriously in capital letters as well, question the idea of what the hell is going on.

Q.

Yes, because this whole thing with that scorecard disappearing that night seems very suspicious at the very least.

Richard Schaefer

Where there is smoke there is fire.

Q.

Yeah. Amir, if you don't get your rematch with Peterson, what would be next, and you sound like someone who's not going to be as willing to fight in the States given what has happened to you. Who would you fight next and will you insist the fight be held in the U.K. where you know you'll get a fair shake?

Q.

Very quickly, Amir, in the event you don't get your rematch with Peterson, who would you like to fight and would you be willing to fight that person somewhere in the States whether it's in Nevada or California or somewhere other than Washington?

Amir Khan

You know, one thing I love fighting in the States, and my previous fights in the States have been fairly fair. I've had some performances, and this is just the one fight that I was treated, and even if I was beaten, then I'd put my hand up and I'd say yes, I was beaten.

But watching the video and everything and beating the fight, I knew I was not beaten and I was treated unfairly. I was complaining at the referee by being hit below the belt and also, you know, being not treated right and getting the ref was always just complaining of things I was doing, but not complaining, not warning Lamont Peterson I mean, you know, that just kind of hurt me because I thought, look at this, you know, I'm the world champion who's traveling to just a big entertainment to people's State and they're not giving me the fair chance, you know, and not many people would do what I'm doing by traveling from England.

I mean I could have all my career in England, but I choose to travel and play in America, just all my fans and for boxing, you know, to make boxing a bigger sport. But it's just upsetting when you see these things happen because I'm thinking, boy, it should never happen and especially what the world of boxing got to see the fight on HBO and also Sky TV.

But I'm sure they thought, wow, you know, is this really boxing, I mean I'm getting Twitter messages, and other messages everywhere I have been going and people are saying, "Wow, we didn't think this happened in boxing." I mean, we know it happens in other sports, but boxing is one sport we thought was fair and it didn't look good for boxing.

Q.

Hi, I'm very well thank you, thank you. There's a question for Richard first of all. You read out that list of the warnings issued by Cooper to Peterson, I mean it sounds like you have an annotated list of those warnings. Can you just tell us who it was who sat down, and watched the tape and made that list for you to present to the WB and IBF. Can you just tell us who it was who did that?

Asif Vali

Yes, the full team from the U.K. have sat down and reviewed the tapes. We, mostly studied it close over the last few days. Amir himself has been away in London for the last few days doing other stuff. When Amir comes back, he's on the way back now, we're going to sit down with him straight again and we're going to go through the list again to clarify and confirm exactly what's happened. But the full team sat down with it.

Q.

We had an understanding here that the IBF had already rejected the appeal, but from what you're saying, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Richard Schaefer

No that was not the official appeal. Basically we sent immediately a letter to the sanction organizations informing them that there will be an appeal and we asked them, we made them aware of it, and the IBF came back very quickly within a day and said that they initially just looked at the tapes and they do not feel that anything is warranted to file an appeal.

But, based on section 12 I believe, of the IBF rules and regulations, you can file an appeal within ten days of the bout and we had an official appeal, and so have filed this official appeal and that official appeal will basically trigger a very thorough review of the facts and the surrounding of this decision and we will have an opportunity to present that, obviously we have put it forward in writing, be we will have an opportunity to present it to the IBF on January 19th. And then they will make their decision whether they will either overturn the result or order an immediate rematch, or let the decision stand as it is. And it's the same process with the WBA.

Q.

You touched on this a bit earlier but I want to get a clarification. Are you saying you would not consider coming back to D.C. based on the event that transpired on the 10th? And how will this, if at all, impact your decision to fight other challengers in their hometown?

Amir Khan

I mean, you know, yeah, you know, first of all I fought other places like neutral venues. I think the best thing for me is to find neutral venues. I mean this can always be hard for me to fight, so I want to know even though you know I fought Lamont Peterson in his home state I beat him and I was against the referee, I was against the judging.

I think in boxing it's bad to have bad judging and bad referees, it just looks so bad for the sport and, you know, we don't want this because it's just making boxing look bad and it's happened with me now and I've got friends all over the world, people who understand boxing, people who don't understand boxing, and even those who don't understand boxing here I will not fight.

And it just puts down Washington, now I know why they didn't have big event for the last 20 years. You know people are afraid to go there, people are going to be afraid to go there again. Now after seeing what happened with me, they're going to be like why we should really stay away from that place and we don't want that, we didn't want that to happen. All we wanted was a fair fight. You know, be fair in boxing, that's what it's all about, I want fair fights and I just don't get the fair fight.

So, I think the world knows, even the press, you guys, and the media, you've all, I'm sure you've all watched the fight and you all know exactly who won the fight and how the fight was. Now all I'm asking is for a rematch, a fair chance back and a fight in neutral just for me to prove to the world of boxing, now look, I clearly won that fight. And that's all I want and, you know, again I mean it would be brilliant if you can return the judging on me.

If we put ourselves in neutral judges and a referee to watch the tape of the fight, I could guarantee you that they'll have me the winner and then points won't be deducted. You know, at the time I was complaining to the referee there was nothing happening with that. I mean the time when the referee told me, when he says 'Khan you should take a step back,' which are in the rules, and box on, but they lost their taken and Lamont's head was going in there - I know if that was me doing the head thing I would have been disqualified. That's how I feel.

So, you know, it's just one of those things, I just really think I was treated unfairly. That's the reason we are putting this complaint in because I know if I lost the fight then I would not complain and make myself look stupid. But because I know I won the fight and I'm so confident that IBF and WBA can do something about this, and they can change around, that's the reason we're doing this, because I think it's hurt in boxing when things are happening.

Richard Schaefer

Yeah, and I just want to add to that I think, you know, it is yes, IBF and WBA, but I really think the Washington Commission needs to do something about that as well, Gene, because it doesn't look right. And it doesn't look right that I was told through my sources that the Petersons met with the mayor of Washington this past week, and talked about doing a potential other fight in Washington. It just doesn't look good. It doesn't look good and I really don't want to dig deeper here because I really don't want to, but what I want is, and what I request, what I will fight for, that the truth come out and the record will be set straight. And the easiest way to set the record straight is let's just do it again.

Q.

How will this at all impact your decision to bring Golden Boy fights to D.C. again?

Richard Schaefer

Well, you know I have to tell you, we are promoting some of the best young talent in Washington, and I want to come back to Washington. I think saying that, "Hey you can't, you can't go to Washington because these people don't know what they're doing and there is like, you know, there is, you know, there's no way to go to Washington to get a fair decision." I think as I said in my opening remarks, that's just very unfair to the fight fans and the sports fans of Washington. And it is in the control of the Commission, of the Washington Commission to do something about that, just like the California Commission did.

You know I mentioned that we're going to come back here to California with Amir's next fight, but you know what, the Commission here in California, again the ref made the mistake, but you know what, it was corrected. And that is what this is all about. If something wrong happens, people should have an opportunity to do the right thing. And as I said, the WBA, the IBF, and the Washington Commission have an opportunity to do the right thing and I hope and - are not going to do the right thing, if they're not going to do the right thing, then I have to tell you, you're putting your fighters at risk to go to Washington, and I don't want to do that. That's not right.

Amir Khan

And I'm sad also, you know, I really think even if the referees or the judges do change and look back and change decision, I think they'll get a lot more respect than not doing anything about it because it just shows that they have to do something about this situation because the situation on the world knows. I mean you can't hide what's happened over the last weekend of the fight between me and Lamont Peterson. It cannot be hidden and we all saw the fight, everyone saw the fight and everyone had their own opinions.

So I think the Commission, and also the referee will have more, get more respect and also in Washington D.C. there will be more fights if that in my opinion is to change because people think, okay fine, they made a mistake and they've changed and they're going to learn from their mistakes and not do that again.

Richard Schaefer

Okay. You know, sorry, I wouldn't go as far as, or maybe I should go as far because I got a funny email today from Dan Rafael from ESPN and he said that some people, some fans have created a Facebook page called Joe Cooper Should be Banned for Five Years. I think the reason why I'm saying that, there is a true outrage out there about the refereeing. You know, nobody is attacking Lamont Peterson here. Nobody is saying that he did anything wrong, but there's a clear outrage against the officiating and something has to be done about it.

Q.

If the fight were to be overturned, what would be the decision? Would it be a no contest?

Richard Schaefer

Well, I will leave that decision up to the, up to the sanctioning organizations and, if they would rule this as a no contest or a draw or whatever it would be, but I think it probably, or if it would be, or if the fight would be awarded to Amir. I think there are different scenarios here and we have outlined the scenarios to the sanction organizations in our appeal and we'll leave it up to them. So what decision they're going to take, it's in their hands now. We stated our case and as I said, I hope they're going to do the right thing.

Q.

Do you feel that the outcome of the fight was a result of Lamont Peterson being from Washington D.C., or is it just a Washington D.C. thing in general?

Richard Schaefer

Well, I mean I think it's probably the two of them are probably connected to each other. But I think what it is, it was an absolutely poor officiating job and either the referee just wasn't up to speed and up to par and he made close calls. And at this point he doesn't know the rules and regulations, or it could be something else.

But as I said, I don't want to go there, I want to give the referee an opportunity and I believe that if the referee is going to in fact review the tape himself, he's going to see that these point deductions were not warranted and that if he's taking points away that he should have been consistent and done the same for Peterson.

And I do hope, just like it was here in California, the ref will review the tape and come to the right conclusion and will give his recommendation to the District of Columbia Commission. That's what I hope for and I really don't want to go and speculate what else could have been or what other forces were behind it, or whatever, because that doesn't bring us anywhere.

Q.

Congratulations on a great performance and thank you for putting on one hell of a fight. My question is, in case the immediate rematch does not happen, and let's say it takes place further down the road, is there a possibility that that rematch could take place at 147 and if so is that something you're okay with?

Amir Khan

Well you know in the best case, we would like a rematch as soon as possible because I want my title back and I want to prove to the boxing fans out there that where the real champion is. And if he wants to fight one fight and then me, I will fight this division and we'll go fight again in the 140 division and then the 147 division. You know one thing about me, I've never said no to an opponent, I've always not turned anyone away.

I fight whoever they put in front of me and it just shows what type of guy I am, I will fight people in their own backyard because I'm not afraid of fighting them. All I want is a fair chance and you know if I had a fair chance on the last fight, I definitely would have won that fight, and it's just one of the things, I mean I wasn't treated right and even the fans in D.C. said that I clearly won the fight. I don't know what the referee was watching, he was on one side and he was not being on my side, in my opinion.

Q.

Did it almost strike you that you actually might lose from your point of view and from the point of view most? Did you think about that in the ring and sort it out properly?

Amir Khan

No, you just want to have a fight. I mean we trained so hard, both fighters. I'm not taking anything away from Lamont. We trained very very hard. We just hope for that one night we put everything into this fight, and we just want to be treated fairly.

I know Lamont Peterson trained very hard for the fight. He boxed really well, he had a good game-plan and everything, but the referee in a way, stole that fight from me. And if I had lost fair and square I would have put my hand up and said fine, he beat me, he was the better fighter of the night, but I don't think he did that. It's all about now just let's see hopefully they can watch the fight again, the Commission, and they do come back with the right vision.

Q.

Can you just tell me about this master scorecard thing, because that seems like quite an important part of your case that you presented there and certainly something that you're very interested about.

Richard Schaefer

Yes, absolutely. We obviously do feel that there's clearly some questions surrounding the scorecards really can't explain why. As I said, Michael Walsh, the WBA Supervisor, Certified Public Account and CPA by profession, very adapt working with numbers, why, and has done that many times before in that same position, why his scorecard was different than the one from the Commission, and the IBF scorecard going missing.

I mean it obviously does raise I think more than a few eyebrows. You just look at everything from the scoring to the point deductions from Amir, to the inconsistency from the ref by not deducting any points from Peterson, even though he has warned him 14 times or so, and you look at all of this, I think that is why we are on this call. And I am not one who takes these lightly, because I believe going to cry foul is not really in the best interest of the sport either.

But what is in the best interest, not just of the sport and of anything is when you have been done wrong you have to stand up. You cannot just do nothing about it. This is what this is about. And let me just that Lamont Peterson is a great fighter. He has tremendous heart, he has tremendous courage, everything that he's overcome to earn that spot, that job. My hat goes off to Lamont Peterson. He's a great, great fighter.

And you saw that when he fought Victor Ortiz. When Victor knocked him down and he came up. He has the heart and the courage to never give up. And I applaud him for that. And I really applaud him as well to have agreed to do the rematch, and I do believe that Lamont Peterson at the end of the day it's not going to be Barry Hunter or his team, or whatever. It is going to be Lamont Peterson who is going to have to go to his team and tell them, you know what? What is right is right. The right thing is that we're going to do it again. That is what this call is about.

Richard Schaefer Thank you to all the media members and I'm going to be forum and we're going to close the call I'm going to give it to Amir to say the final words, but to all my friends from the British media, to all my friends from the U.S. media, I wish you all a very happy holiday season. Enjoy the time off, we're going to have an exciting start to 2012. Enjoy the time with your family and I really appreciate your continued support of the sport of boxing. Thank you, thank you very much. Amir?

Amir Khan Yes, thanks. Just thank you very much for all of your support guys and hopefully we can get this resolved. And thanks for calling on the conference to the U.S. media and also the U.K. media and have a good Merry Christmas and happy New Years guys and hopefully we'll see you in 2012.

THOMAS “CORNFLAKE” LAMANNA SCORES KNOCKOUT IN ARKANSAS TO STAY PERFECT AT 6-0

MILLVILLE, NJ (December 20, 2011)—This past Friday night in Batesville, Arkansas, Jr. Middleweight prospect Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna scored his sixth consecutive victory with a second round stoppage over Ivory Joyner to keep his perfect mark intact.

LaManna hit Joyner with a hard one-two combination that sent the Arkansas native down and the fight was waved off at 1:16 of round two.

LaManna of Millville, NJ lifted his record to 6-0 with four knockouts and is already back working for his next fight.

“It was good to fight outside the area and get the win. It’s always good to fight on the road and gain experience”, said the twenty year-old LaManna

“We have three fights lined up for Thomas to begin the year”, said LaManna’s Father/Manager Vinny LaManna.

“Thomas will be back on January 19th in Staten Island then we have February and March dates that are tentative. To have him get nine fights in his first thirteen months as a pro is about where both he and I want him to be”

VICTOR ORTIZ vs. ANDRE BERTO II
LOS ANGELES PRESS CONFERENCE

Photo: Phil McCarten - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions.

Former World Champion Victor Ortiz (Left) and former World Champion Andre Berto (Right) pose on December 19, 2011 in Los Angeles, California at the press conference to officially announce their February 11, 2012 rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada which will be televised live on SHOWTIME Championship Boxing.

Monday, Dec. 19, JW Marriott At L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles , Calif.- The Rematch Of One Of Most Exciting Fights Of 2011 Is Set For Saturday, Feb. 11, At The MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas , Nev.

The Eagerly Awaited 12-Round Welterweight Fight
To Be Televised Live on SHOWTIME®
At 10 p.m. EST/PST; Plus Undercard Fights Will Air Live on SHO Extreme

LOS ANGELES (Dec. 19, 2011) – Ten months after a classic and spirited slugfest that is a definite “Fight of the Year” candidate, former World Champions “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s), of Ventura, Calif. and Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KO’s), of Winter Haven, Fl., will slug it out again on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. EST/PST, delayed on the West Coast).

The eagerly awaited 12-round fight is a rematch of a fiercely contested, multiple-knockdown affair on April 16 that Ortiz won by a unanimous decision (114-112, 114-111 and 115-110) while capturing Berto’s World Boxing Council (WBC) 147-pound title. Both fighters were knocked down twice in the fight, with Berto being dropped in the first, Ortiz going down a round later and each of them hitting the deck in a wild sixth round that many are calling the Round of the Year.

“Repeat or Revenge: Ortiz vs. Berto II" is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and DiBella Entertainment. Tickets, priced at $300, $150, $100 and $50, are on sale and are available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith's Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Quotes from Monday’s press conference are below:

“VICIOUS” VICTOR ORTIZ

“My team kind of said it all. I don’t need to say a whole lot. I prepare very well. I know I’m up against a tough opponent. I captured the world championship and went for the best. I’ll leave everything in the ring and bring home the victory once again. I don’t hate anybody. I respect all of them. We’re here to box and fight and make a great show on February 11th. I’m ready.

“I’m being counted out once again. Once again, not the best of the best. Once again, I’m too nice. You know what, I’ll show you February 11th why Andre Berto belongs where he’s at and why I’ve made him belong there. I don’t need to say anything more than that.”

ANDRE BERTO

“I have put in the time and worked very hard to get to where I am.

“This is a tremendous opportunity. I’m ready to get it on. I’ve had to improve my game. I’ve had a hard, tough training camp and just have to stay focused and get the job done.

“I’m hungrier than ever. I predict a win.”

RICHARD SCHAEFER (CEO of Golden Boy Promotions)

”We are definitely starting out 2012 with a big bang. ‘Ortiz-Berto II’ is boxing at its best and the single biggest fight that can be made outside of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

“We are all very excited. This is the first time a premium channel fight is being supported like a pay-per-view event. SHOWTIME is planning to do a Fight Camp 360.

“Their first fight may be ‘Fight of the Year’ and both guys want to set the record straight. The rematch might be 2012 ‘Fight of the Year.’ Both of these world champions are guaranteed to put on a great show.

The 147-pound division is the one with all the biggest names and we have two of them fighting each other.

“We’re expecting a sellout.“I really want to thank Stephen Espinoza and SHOWTIME for stepping up the way they have. This will be an incredible night of boxing.’’

STEPHEN ESPINOZA (Executive Vice President, General Manager of SHOWTIME Sports)

“I’m very excited and proud to have this as my first official press conference. I’m more excited and more proud that this is the first fight that I acquired in my position as Executive Vice President (and General Manager) of SHOWTIME Sports and Event Programming. This fight is the most compelling, most exciting, most highly anticipated fight available. That’s why it was my No. 1 priority from the very first minute I accepted the position with SHOWTIME…to make sure that this fight appeared on SHOWTIME.

“Not only am I excited and proud to have this as SHOWTIME programming but all of my colleagues are excited as well. We will be receiving the support of our parent company, CBS and all of its platforms, which includes the free television network, CBS Interactive and other CBS Sports Networks. All of these plans will be developing more as time goes forward.

“When they are deserving, we’ll be airing what used to be non-televised undercards on SHOWTIME EXTREME before the telecast begins on SHOWTIME. This will be an opportunistic play for our network based on multiple factors. SHO EXTREME has blossomed into one of the strongest cable television and sports programming outlets. SHO EXTREME is where we replay all our boxing and MMA events, and the rest of our award-winning sports programming such as Inside the NFL, Inside NASCAR, The Franchise.

“This is going to be an amazing fight between two of the brightest young stars in the sport and that’s yet another reason why it was important for SHOWTIME to acquire this event. These are two world-class athletes and just as importantly, if not more importantly, two world-class young men, very articulate, very personable and they are exactly the type of young men that SHOWTIME wants to be in business with. I’m looking toward to February 11th. It’s guaranteed to be a great.’’

ROLANDO ARELLANO (Ortiz’s manager)

“We at Team Ortiz will convey nothing but respect to Andre Berto. We know he is a great fighter. We know that he has the courage of a warrior with a great team. We know that he is hungry and that his thirst for revenge is present. We clearly understand all those facts. The only way we know how to respect him, our sport and the fans is to prepare for this fight like never before.

“I will pledge to our fans that Victor will raise his standards in this fight like never before. If Andre Berto thought he ran into a freight train last time, this time he will feel the (hurt) of a nuclear bomb.’’

TONY MORGAN (Berto’s Trainer)

“Berto was just out of it the last fight. He tried to come in light. He was completely deficient. We found out after that he was anemic, but no excuses. Victor fought his butt off. I’m not making excuses. I’m just saying Berto wasn’t 100 percent. This time, we’ll be 100 percent and we’ll see the true outcome. I think we knock him out. I just hope for a good fight.”

Ward Takes It All: Dominates Froch to Win Super Six Final

Photo By German Villasenor

By Neil Grossman.

Atlantic City, NJ (December 17, 2011) Andre Ward (25-0,13 ko's) of Oakland, California won the first nine rounds by most opinions and went on to a unanimous decison to add the WBC Super Middleweight belt to his WBA Supermiddleweight belt in this unification fight. Carl Froch(28-2,20 ko's) of Nottingham England tried his best in reaching Ward with punches but Andre would either come in close and smother Froch, not giving him distance to throw punchs effectively, or Andre would then just simply elude punches with his body speed.

All photo: Sally Grossman

The judges scores were John Keene(U.K.) 118-110, and to many folks surprise the Canadiena Judge Craig Metcalfe amd American Judge John Stewart scored the fight both an inexpicably close 115-113.

Ward had a great defense. Often using his body to press against Froch keeping Froch's hands tied and unable to box. Ward often would then take a few steps back , opening the distance , and use his surperior hand speed to unload a volley of punches. His left hand scored at will most of the fight. Ward also was able to avoid punches simply by sidetepping and avoiding them, due to his speed.

To his credit Froch was not hurt much to speak of and even inflicted an early cut on Andre Ward, which later in the last few rounds may have bothered him slightly, giving Froch a chance to win round nine and possibly round ten. Andre then took control of the finals two rounds to close the show witrh a dominating win.

The fight was very cleanly fought, with Steve Smoger the ref, keeping away and letting the fight play out in clinches. Froch threw a few rabbit punches in frustration but nothing was made of it.

Goosen Tutor promotions, Matchroom Sport, Antonio Leonard Promotions, Caesers of Atlantic City, and the sponser Corona, all made this a very pleasant final event of the Super Middleweight Tournament.

In the undercard Kell Brook (26-0,18 ko's) of Yorkshire U.K. scored a TKO at 1:38 of round five over a game Luis Galarza(!8-3,14 ko's) of Tennesee. It was a welterweight bout scheduled for ten rounds.

Light heavyweight Cornelius White of Texas(18-1, 15 ko's) scored a Unanimous decision over Yordanis Despaigne(9(9-2,4 ko's) of Florida by way of Cuba.

At light heavyweight, the always tough fighter Edison Miranda of Columbia (35-6,29 ko's) scored a 2:15 round five TKO over a game Kariz Kariuki of Florida.

the first bout of the evening on the undercard Heavyweight BowieTupou(22-1,16 ko's) of California scored a unanimous decision over Donnell Holmes(33-2-2,29 ko's) of North Carolina.

Great night of boxing at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. See you next fight!

SILGADO SMASHING IN AMERICAN DEBUT

BROOKLYN, NY (December 18, 2011)—It took nearly two years but undefeated Cruiserweight Santander Silgado was unleashed for the first time on American soil as he scored an impressive second round knockout over Glenn Williams that past Thursday night in North Bergen, New Jersey

Silgado scored knockdowns in each of the two rounds with booming right hands with the latter shot ending the fight. Williams got to his fight but was on unsteady legs and the fight was waved off by referee Earl Morton at 2:51 of the round.

“It feels so great”, said an ecstatic twenty-six year old Silgado who ran his perfect mark to 19-0 with seventeen knockouts.

“Many Colombians do not get an opportunity to show their skills in the United States and I am thankful for the shot. I felt a little rusty and I missed the ring during the inactivity but I quickly felt comfortable in there.”

“I need two or three more fights and I am ready to fight anybody in the Cruiserweight division”

Silgado of Monteria, Colombia but now training in Brooklyn, New York is promoted by Rob Diaz and Havoc Boxing Promotions

UNBEATEN LUIS RAMOS JR. BEGINS 2012 WITH HIS DEBUT ON HIT SERIES SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION AGAINST RAYMUNDO BELTRAN

SHOWTIME® TO TELEVISE JANUARY 6 BATTLE FROM FANTASY SPRINGS RESORT CASINO IN INDIO, CALIF.

LOS ANGELES, December 13 - Golden Boy Promotions and SHOWTIME® will kick off 2012 in explosive fashion on Friday, January 6when Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. hosts the new year's first ShoBox: The New Generation telecast with a not-to-be missed 10 round NABA - USA lightweight title fight between unbeaten Luis Ramos Jr. and rising star Raymundo Beltran.

Ramos vs. Beltran is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and will be televised live on ShoBox: The New Generation at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) on SHOWTIME.

Tickets, priced at $25, $35 and $45, are on sale now and available for purchase at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, by calling (800) 827-2946 or online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com. Doors at Fantasy Springs will open at 6:00 p.m. PT on fight night and the first bell rings at 6:30 p.m. PT.

Santa Ana southpaw Luis Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KO's) has been waiting for a fight like this since he turned professional in 2007 and he's eager to perform in front of SHOWTIME viewers from coast to coast. Fresh off of his biggest year yet in which he defeated longtime contender Francisco Lorenzo and knocked out fellow prospect David Rodela, the 23-year-old feels he will have home ring advantage on January 6, and he promises to deliver a big win to his growing fan base.

After going 3-1 since returning from a year and a half layoff, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico native "Sugar" Raymundo Beltran (25-5, 17 KO's) has been in top form, winning all three of his fights by knockout, with his only loss coming in the form of a close, hotly contested and action-packed decision against Sharif Bogere in their May 2011 ShoBox fight. Now back on the SHOWTIME airwaves, the 30-year-old is ready to get the New Year off to a rousing start against Ramos Jr.

Making this big night of boxing even bigger will be the fact that SHOWTIME will be available in 60 million households for a Free Preview Weekend the night the ShoBox broadcast airs. The Free Preview Weekend is available to digital subscribers of participating providers only on both SD and HD feeds. Select providers will offer the Free Preview via SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®. The preview will be available across a number of distributors including Comcast, Charter, Cox, DIRECTV, Verizon, Mediacom and RCN.

A full undercard, including an exciting co-featured bout, will be announced shortly.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com,

PETERSON CLAIMS TITLE OVER KHAN IN SPLIT DECISION

Photo: German Villasenor

By Francisco and German Villasenor

December 10, 2011- In one of the most entertaining, back and forth action, drama filled fight of the year, rags to riches story came to fruition on Saturday night, as Lamont Peterson came back from a first round knockdown, to pressure and pressure his way unto a split decision win against Amir Khan to win the WBA Superlightweight belt at the Washington DC Convention Center on Saturday night's HBO televised main event.
Khan the quicker and more mobile on his feet fighter was credited with a knockdown in the first round, as Petrson lokked to have his legs tangle up with a punch thrown in by the Briton, without being harmed, Peterson came back to pressure his way, landing hard right hands ad body shots to even up the fight in the mid-rounds.

Khan, who kept on pushing Peterson's head down throughout the bout and shoving his opponent off, would pay dearly for it, as he would be deducted a point for pushing in the 7th and another point in the final round, for hitting on the break.

The fight featured both men with bruising on their faces due to the action packed trading of hard shots throughout the bout, with Peterson looking the worse for wear as hewould be declared the victor with his right eye nearly shut via 113-112 twice, and 111-11 for the split decision win.
Peterson, who came into the fight as an 11 to 1 underdog, did not hesitate in offering the rematch to Khan, as the latter, who had plans to move up to the welter weight ranks also agreed that a rematch was in order on the post fight interviews with Max Kellerman.
With the win, Peterson's record moved to 30-1-1 with 15KOs, as Khan saw his drop to , while Khan 26-2 with 18KOs.

Mitchell Halts Ibragimov in Two.

Heavyweight Seth Mitchell, a former football player, looks thus far to be the real thing as he scored the biggest win to date, by stopping a former Olympian in Timur Ibragimov 30-4-1 (16KOs) in two.

Mitchell 24-0-1 (17KOs) pressured, landed well placed hard-right hands and left hook uppercuts did enough damage to warran a stoppage at 2:48 of the second round, making Mitchell the first man to stop Ibragimov in a pro fight.

Cotto Makes it One and One against Margarito

Photo: German Villasenor

By Neil Grossman
Sunday, December 4, 2011- In their much anticipated remach before a complete sellout crowd at the Meca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico (37-2,30 ko's) outboxed and oufought Antonio Margarito of Mexico by way of California (38-8-0-1,27 ko's) and scored a tko with three seconds into round 10.

The scorecards ion all the judges had it 8 rounds to 1 at the time of the stoppage.

Cotto was in complete control of the whole fight. He jabbed very effectively, especially to the eye (actually both eyes got hit).

He moved a lot and got very little incoming as Margarito was way slower and after about four rounds to me he had lost his depth perception, often missing punches by as much as a foot.

There was no body attack like the first fiught by Margarito and Cotto easy blocked or just simpluy held if Margarito tried to come into the body. A few times Cotto merely piced Tony up and pushed himaway.That accentuated the manhadling to me. I felt the fight should have been called by six due to total depth perception being lost and by letting it go on it ruined Tony's chances of fully enjoying the sight of children and hopefully grandchildren one day when he realizes it is important to live for your family.

On the other hand Cotto looked good as ever and definetly is in good condition to fight a few more big fights at the Garden.

21,239 fans rooting for Miguel saw one of the greatest Boricua fighters of all time close an unfortunate chapter in recent boxing history with style and dignity. He is back a hundred per cent!

In the PPV undercard for the WBA World Lightweight Title Brandon Rios(29-0-1,20 ko's) scored a TKO at :54 of round eleven over John Murray of England(25-5-3,14 ko's).

After the sixth round Murray fought gamely with a complelety bloodied face to contend with.

In the ten round IBA Intewrcontinental Junior Middleweight Title Delvin Rodriguez of Connecticut(26-5-3,14 ko's) scored a unanimous decision over crowd pleaser Pawel Wolak of New Jersey(29-2-1.19 ko's). Wolak was tough as nails, bloody , being hit very hard to the face, but fighting back a surprising number of times. Very good effort.

In the 12 round IBF eliminator for theNABA, NABO Welterweight title, Mike Jones Of Philadelphia (25-0, 18 ko's) scored a UD over Sebastian Lujan of Argentina (38-6-2, 24 ko's). This was a very one sided fight on all cards.

Other smaller four rounders:
Mike Lee(8-0, 5kos) tko :55 of fourth round over Allen Medina(9-20-1,1ko) at light heavyweight
Sean Monaghan((11-0, 8 ko's) ko at :56 round two over Santos Martinez(2-3,2 ko's) at light heavyweight.
Glen Tapia(12-0,6ko's) Ko over Mike Ruiz(15-7, 7ko's) at 2:20 of round two at Super welterweight.
Hanzel Martinez((16-0,13 ko's) Majority Decision over Felipe Castaneda(6-4-1,3 ko's) at Bantamweight.
Samuel Figueroa(2-0,1ko) wins by split decison over Latwon Shabbaz Halsey(0-1-1,0 kos) at welterweight.

A Great Night of Boxing by Top Rank, HBO, Madison Square Garden!
I'm sure the New York party went on all throught the night! See you next fight!